‘Conserving Del Piero for future games’

NEW DELHI: One of the main reasons for watching a football match in a stadium is the atmosphere, and the Delhi Dynamos fans ensured that aspect was taken care of. If only the result had gone their way.

Despite a handful of chances, Dutch coach Harm van Veldhoven’s team could not convert, and even the marquee player, Italian legend Alessandro del Piero, who came on in the 36th minute to the reception of a rock star, failed to inspire despite making a clear impact.

Van Veldhoven, though, is taking only the positives from the game and is already looking forward to the next one, against Atletico de Kolkata. “Against Kolkata, we have to take our chances. I watched their match on Sunday and they played very well. Hopefully, we will do well against them.

Conceding that his boys didn’t capitalise on opportunities, he added in the same vein that, “I’m glad we at least made (those) chances. I would rather make chances and miss than not be able to create chances because I like to play offensive football.”

Del Piero may have been accorded a rousing welcome when he came in as a substitute, but the coach played down the significance of not starting with him. “The reason was because we have to play many games and we have to be careful. I have three very good strikers,” the coach said, suggesting that he could start with the Italian World Cup-winner in the next match.

Van Veldhoven was also critical of the way Pune played, saying that “they played for a draw”. “Pune came today playing for a point. I am sure they played five at the back,” the 52-year-old veteran said, though he was all praise for Pune City goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi.

Van Veldhoven’s Pune counterpart, Italian coach Franco Colomba, spoke along the same lines, outlining the fact that since this is the first match, there will always be mistakes and the team need time. “We made a lot of mistakes on the counter. I feel we can make a few changes and do better in the next match,” Colomba said. “It was a physical and good match .... a technical match.”

Asked if he felt the team was lucky to have come away with a point, Colomba was diplomatic. “In the second half, we were more tight and compact.”